An Insider's View of Silicon Valley

Start-Up@Singapore's first event of the New Year brings together individuals that have played a key role in forging ties between Singapore and Silicon Valley. Over the last decade, "technopreneurship" and "creative chaos" have become buzzwords in a country where years of government planning and a conservative social environment have somewhat blunted the risk-taking spirit. Join Tom Kosnik, Eric Tachibana and our invited GLEAN Leaders to learn more about how Singapore-based entrepreneurs can and are contributing to the transformation of this country's entrepreneurial landscape. Is the Valley's model suitable and desirable for Singapore? Will venture capitalists here ever be more comfortable investing in high-tech start-up companies rather than prime real estate? More importantly, how do we reinvent the stigma attached to failure as something akin to a badge of honour? All your burning questions and more will be answered in this exciting event brought to you by Start-Up@Singapore.

Moderator
Eric Tachibana
E ric Tachibana has been an entrepreneur for the last 12 years creating, building and eventually exiting successful small companies in Silicon Valley, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Today, Eric continues his entrepreneurial endeavors as an angel investor, strategic adviser and mentor to young, developing entrepreneurs. He has served as a Founding Director in 7 companies ranging from IT and F&B to retail and fashion. As an MBA graduate from NUS and an author of 7 books on technology development and innovation management, Eric continues to focus on blending academic rigor with experience and intuition-driven real-world execution.

Panelists
Professor Tom Kosnik
Tom Kosnik is a Consulting Professor for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) at the Stanford School of Engineering. He is also on the Board of Advisors of the Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES) and the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurs Association (NUSEA). He has provided guidance for the Stanford Entrepreneurs' Challenge since 1996 and numerous other business plan competitions since 2000. Tom has worked with over 100 start-up companies since 1978. He also provides consulting and executive education to global companies in imagination-intensive industries. Some of his past clients include American Management Systems, Apple Computers, Applied Materials, Electronic Arts, Ericsson, Ernst & Young, Genesys, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Nuance Communications.

Peter Purushotma
Peter Purushotmas has lived and worked in Singapore, Asean, London, Italy, the United States of America, Australia and India. He is an advisor and the Consulting Professor for the National University of Singapore in Silicon Valley Program as well as the Asian Chairperson for the Einstein Awards. As the Founding Director of Far East Computers (FEC) in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, he has harnessed, Singapore's unique assets with India's brilliant intellectual capital through HCL of India. His current interests include the Middle East, South America and Israel. He continues as an angel investor and advisor to several Silicon Valley companies and startups. A founding board member of the Singapore American Business Association, he looks forward to enhance and share his 'Global Spider Networks' through Singapore's Next Generation Entrepreneurs.

Koh Soo Boon
Koh Soo Boon has over 28 years of global experience in finance and venture capital investing. She founded iGlobe Partners and iGlobe Partners Fund, L.P. in 1999. Currently, she serves on the boards of several companies, including Aicent Inc., Televigation Inc., Mtone Wireless Corp., VIMA Microsystems Corp., and Lattice Semiconductor Inc. (NASDAQ: LSCC). Since 2003, she serves on the Investment Committee of iGlobe Treasury Fund, a NZ$31 million fund supported by the New Zealand Government. When Soo Boon moved to Silicon Valley in the summer of 1986, She was involved in the early days of technology transfer for over 100 engineers in Silicon Valley for Chartered Semiconductor (then a joint venture between Singapore Technologies, National Semiconductor and Sierra Semiconductor) and also Chartered Microwave (a joint venture between Singapore Technologies and Gamma Microwave).